Mozilla looks to users for upgrade campaign

5th Dec 09:15

The Mozilla Foundation is putting a new face on the latest marketing efforts for its popular web browser Firefox.

Mozilla just released Firefox 1.5, the first major upgrade since the browser debuted late last year. In that time, Firefox has taken a bite out of Internet Explorer's market dominance. Firefox now has 14% market share in the US, and 11.5% globally, making it the second most popular browser, according to web analytics firm OneStat.com.

Mozilla credits that success to its grassroots PR and marketing, having Firefox users evangelize the open-source software. The company is now enlisting those same users to create video testimonials about how using Firefox has affected their life on the internet, explained Chris Beard, VP of products and marketing.

"We are very nontraditional in our product development and marketing," said Beard. "We allow for thousands of individuals to help develop software. We apply that philosophy to our marketing."

Last year, the campaign, called Spread Foxfire, rallied volunteers to get the word out about the new browser. This time, Foxfire Flicks will put faces to those users' voices.

"It's one thing if we say Firefox is great," said Beard. "It's something else if the users says it. People respond to people. Video is a universal medium, and it allows people to be as creative as they can be."

"[It's] important for this to be viral, to have people pass along these testimonials to other people," he added.